


Save Her

by MelancholyTulip



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Sassy, Teenage Drama, Teenage Rebellion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 05:59:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14586507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelancholyTulip/pseuds/MelancholyTulip
Summary: I wrote this years ago, and I'm still editing it.There may be some triggers, since there is a mention of self harm.Tessa Newson is a seventeen year old girl, Nathan Harris is a seventeen year old boy, you figure it out.Part 1 of 3 of The Save Her Trilogy





	1. A Mysterious Stranger. Tessa's POV

Beep, Beep, Beep. I awoke to the subtle beeping of my alarm clock. I groaned and rolled to my side, grabbing my phone off my bedside table and checking the time. 7:00, it read. Damn, another day in hell, I thought to myself. I rolled myself out of my warm blankets and trudged to the bathroom. The familiar silence of my apartment made the running water from my shower deafening. I slipped out of my pajama shorts and pulled my shirt over my head. I glanced at myself in the mirror and observed my scars and fresh cuts that were all over my skin. 

I slowly stepped into the shower and winced as the warm water hit my sensitive skin. Dried up blood ran down my body as I washed it. I grabbed my shampoo bottle and poured some of the substance into my palm. I scrubbed the shampoo into my scalp, leaving a silky feeling as I ran my fingers through my hair. I stepped out of the shower and grabbed my towel that was hanging up and wrapped it around my skinny body. I walked silently through my already silent hallway, to my bedroom. I opened my drawers and grabbed the first set of black skinny jeans that my eyes laid upon. I pulled them over my much too skinny hips and pulled my Sleeping with Sirens shirt over my head, and pulled my wet hair into a messy bun. I quickly grabbed my phone and my hoodie and ran down the stairs.

I reached the bottom of the stairs and trudged my way to the kitchen. My cat, Tig, was dancing around my ankles, begging for food. I grabbed a can of food and placed it on the ground for him. He licked at it greedily. If only I was a cat, I thought, I wouldn’t have to deal with this shit. I grabbed my backpack, which was, until that moment, serving as a bed for my cat. 

“Sorry kitty,” I bent down and pet him, “I’ll see you later.” and with that I slung my bag over my shoulder and ran out of the house skipping breakfast altogether. When I reached the bus stop, I quickly checked my phone again to see the time, 7:40 it said. I had ten minutes until the bus picked me up. I don't want to walk back to my lonely house, so instead I decided to dial my mom’s number. It went straight to voicemail, as it did every morning, so as I did everyday, I left a message, “Hey mom, I just wanted to say hey and tell you that I love you.” I then broke off into a sob. She was never going to get the message, she was never going to answer. She was-

“Hey!” a cheerful voice called to me, causing me to snap out of my train of thought. I snapped my head up and saw the only person who talked to me walking over. In one swift motion I pulled my hoodie on making sure there was no evidence of self harm visible.

“Hey Talia,” I said quietly showing a half-hearted fake smile. She continued to walk towards me. She stood next to me, a bit to close. I looked at the petite girl and observed her natural beauty. Her long blond hair, with streaks of red running through it, was hanging down her shoulders. She had a blue hoodie on that was decorated with a heart and wings with the word ‘Love’ on it. Her jeans were faded denim and the pockets had decorations on them. As much as I want to be jealous of her, I can’t. She’s just too perfect, that annoying perfect that you wish you were, but because they’re so nice, you can’t wish anything ill on them. 

“So, Tessa. Did you have a good night sleep?” she asked, flashing me a kind smile. I wish she wouldn’t do that, that just makes her more perfect. She had a the most beautiful smile I had ever seen in my seventeen years of life, except that of my mothers’. 

“No, not really,” I answered truthfully. I wish I could say something that could start a conversation. My mom was always trying her best to get me to socialize, with little luck. The only socialization I had was with my rugby team and Drama club, but I had since quit both of those and become a hermit. 

Talia opened her mouth to ask another question, but the bus had pulled up. I walked towards it and tried to be as invisible as I could as I made my way to my normal seat. Talia walked past me and went towards the back of the bus where her friends sat. They thought everyone at school called them ‘The Queen Bees’, but we just called them ‘The Bitches, with the exception of Talia’. I wasn’t mad that she ignored me in a school environment, because if her friends caught her talking to me, she would be an outcast. So, by being the bigger person, and being friendless, I was saving other people from social suicide. 

As the bus took off, my gaze turned to the window and I looked out of the glass and absorbed the scene of the outdoors. It was the middle of autumn, and the leaves were falling and decorating the ground with colors. I had always loved autumn. It was always my mom’s favorite season. I remember when we first moved to Botkins, Ohio, it was in the middle of autumn, right before my 7th birthday. 

I watched as the bus drove past the park my mom used to take me to. The playground had been long deserted. No one went to that park anymore. The swings were broken, the slide was disconnected from the play set, and the Round-a-bout had been broken since I was seven. Nethertheless, we went almost every Saturday, until I was eleven and then I figured I was too old to go to the park with my mom. I can tell you, that is complete and utter bullshit. 

As we passed the park we turned down the wrong road. I looked up to see if we had a substitute driver. Nope. I shrugged. I guess the bus driver must’ve taken a wrong turn, I thought to myself. The bus stopped and opened its doors and a tall brown-haired boy got onto the bus. He walked down the aisle and sat next to me. I looked up bewildered and observed the new boy. He had a gray hoodie on, but it wasn’t zipped up, so I saw his green polo shirt. He had loose khakis, but they weren’t showing his underwear. His dark hair looked like he had just rolled out of bed, but for some reason that made him more attractive to me. He looked at me and flashed me a toothy grin. His bright blue eyes met my blue-grey ones, and my snow white cheeks flushed with color, and I looked down. He was a lot more attractive now that he was right in front of my face.

“Hey,” the stranger said. I think I caught a faint Brooklyn accent, I looked up, my eyes wide and I didn’t answer. I just stared in awe, like a freaking idiot. “Why is he talking to me?He is so attractive. Did he have some sort of brain aneurysm? Does he only have one week to live and I just so happen to be the first girl he saw? Is he thinking that I am going to be a booty call? He wants sex,” I thought, “that is the only explanation that explains he’d be talking to me.”

“H-hey,” I stuttered out nervously. It wasn’t like me to get nervous around guys. It wasn’t like me to get nervous around anyone. I had built up a pretty thick skin, it took a lot to get me nervous anymore. The only thing that unnerved me was family. So what was different about him? I mean, yeah he was attractive, but not so attractive that it should unnerve me. I awkwardly glanced down at my thumbs and I started twiddling them. A habit of mine when I felt uncomfortable. 

“My name is Nathan,” he said.

“Nathan,” I repeated to myself, like a freaking idiot. 'Are you kidding me Tessa??!'

“Huh?” he asked. I noticed I had said his name aloud. I quickly covered my mouth. 

“Um… my name is Tessa,” I said quietly as I lowered my hand. I then turned away from our conversation. I resumed to look out the window and thought, ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid, that couldn’t have gone worse.' I mentally face palmed and ignored Nathan for the rest of the ride, in hopes that I wouldn’t embarrass myself anymore than I had already. That’s kind of impossible at this point.


	2. Lonely. Nathan's POV

Tessa had turned away from me and looked out the window. Odd. It made me wonder if she was okay. I had noticed that she blushed when I sat down, maybe it was just a bad case of the butterflies. I mean, if that was the case, she sure wasn’t alone. I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had seen in a long time. The girls in New York are all fake. They wear too much make-up, and pretend they are all that, when they really aren’t. I wanted to know more about her so I tried to start another conversation, but it was never the right time. So, we just sat in silence until we got to school. 

When we pulled up at Stonebrook High, the first thing I noticed was how astonishingly normal it was. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting, but it sure as hell wasn’t this. It was just a simple brick building. No graffiti, no barbed wire fences, it was just, normal. It almost felt like it was too normal, almost like there was some weird murder cult involved in the school, and the minute I walked in I would be taken away to the school boiler room and stabbed to death. My mom had warned me about how small Botkins, Ohio was. A whooping population of 1,155, and that’s without us added on. Botkins was definitely much different than Brooklyn. Brooklyn is a bustling seaside city in New York, and Botkins is a small landlocked town in the middle of Ohio. I didn’t really have high expectations of Botkins, but I think I’m starting to change my mind about this place. 

Tessa glared at me as she waited for me to leave the seat. I got up and let her leave the seat before me and she gave me an amused look, like she was silently judging me for being polite. Despite popular belief, Brooklyn is a pretty polite place in general. There are a lot of old people who have lived there their entire lives, and if you weren’t polite to them, they’d whip you. It wouldn’t matter if they were related to you or not, especially in my neighborhood, we were all like family. 

“What’s so funny?” I asked finally. She shook the look off her face and replaced it with a vacant expression.

“Chivalry is dead Nathan,” she whispered to me as she stepped in front of me to get out of the seat. I could have sworn I saw her crack a smile as I followed her out the bus and watched her walk into the school. I stared as she disappeared behind the dark mahogany doors. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to walk in after her, quite frankly. All I knew was I had better make a decision before I was trampled by the entire student body. I finally decided that the doors looked slightly inviting, so I hesitated before I grabbed the left handle and opened the door.

There were students walking in every direction, I looked around the front hall and I saw a door that was labeled OFFICE. I walked to the door and pulled it opened. I observed my surroundings and saw a lady with red hair that was obviously dyed, talking on the phone. I walked over to the desk and she held up one manicured finger telling me to wait a second, I stepped back and looked around.

Behind me was a billboard with pictures of the Drama club. One of the pictures stood out to me because Tessa was in it. She was smiling next to four boys. One of them was kissing her cheek and the other three were gathered around them. They looked like they were in 10th grade at the time. Tessa was smiling and she looked happy.  
“Hey, newbie,” a voice said behind me. I jumped a bit and turned to face a Brazilian girl.

“Uh, hey,” I said shyly. The girl was obviously Brazilian, she also had dark brown, almost black, curly hair that went down to her waist. She wore little make-up for a sixteen or seventeen year old girl, all she had on was a little bit of mascara and a faint layer of eyeliner. She wore a crop top that had a band logo on it, and a pair of black skinny jeans.  
“Does that picture interest you?” she asked pointing to the picture of Tessa and the other guys.

“Yeah, I guess,” I said looking at the picture again. I wonder if this girl knows Tessa I thought to myself. The girl smiled and un-pinned the picture from the board.  
“Do you want it?” she said holding out the picture. I looked at her to see if she was being serious, I didn't want to take it in case people thought I was a creepy New York stalker. She smiled at me again and dropped the picture on the ground.

“If anybody asks, tell them you picked it up from the ground and forgot to pin it back up,” she whispered in my ear. I stared at her as if she was crazy, but she just smiled in return and turned and walked away with a bounce in her step. I bent down and picked up the photo, observing it quickly and pocketing it so no one could see.

 

“Yes, can I help you?” the lady at the front desk asked once she had finished her phone call.

“Um, yes you can. I am new here,” I said shoving my right hand into my pocket as I approached her desk.

“Right. Name please,” the lady asked as she flipped through some scattered papers on her desk. 

“Nathan. Nathan Harris,” I responded. I stepped back from her desk because her perfume was quite strong. I watched as she flipped through more papers on her desk, finally stopping at a packet stabled together.

“Here is your schedule and your welcome pack,” she said handing me the packet. I took the packet from her and waited for her to tell me where to go. 

“I will be back is one moment,” the lady said as she disappeared into the room behind her desk. A minute later she returned with a familiar face, it was the girl who gave me the picture of Tessa. 

“This is Delilah, she will take you to your first period,” the lady said smiling as she gently pushed Delilah towards me.

“We’ve met,” I said quietly as I stepped back so Delilah wouldn’t fall into me.

“Alright Miss. Banken, Nathan and I will be off,” Delilah said waving goodbye to Miss Banken. We walked out of the Office door. Delilah was quite quiet. She don't talk much until we turned the corner and walked down a hallway lined with lockers.

“So, Nathan. You’re from New York?” she asked. I looked at her and noticed she was just trying to start a conversation.

“Yeah, it was fun there. I miss it. It’s definitely bigger than Botkins,” I say thinking that I may have over shared. 

“Cool. But I have a question, why are you interested in Tessa Newson?” Delilah asked looking at me intently. I avoided her eyes as I answered.

“I’m not,” I lied, apparently badly because she saw right through it.

“You totally are. No new kid would have taken a picture from the bulletin board, even if it was offered,” she said giggling, “Do you have a crush on her or something?” 

“No, I just find her interesting. We ride the same bus, and I sat down beside her and she didn’t say anything to me until we got off, and what she said was rather sassy,” I said as I cracked a smile. I didn’t know if I had a crush on Tessa, I didn’t even know her, for all I know she could be an absolute bitch . I just thought she was really pretty. 

“Oh, well Tessa is just like that. She uses sass and wit to avoid her problems. It’s her way of putting a wall up around herself. She was a pretty cool girl. Outgoing and all of that jazz. I mean she had severe social anxiety, but she was really sporty and that helped her with her fear of talking to people,” Delilah said with a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, “But that was a long time ago. She stopped talking to everyone last year. I used to be her best friend before that happened, we were really close,” she added sadly. 

“Oh,” was the only way I could respond. I don't want to intrude and ask her what happened to cause her to stop talking to people, but I really wanted to. We walked in silence until she stopped in front of a classroom door.

“Here is Mr. Hemmings class. He is young but he has a good handle things. You’ll like him,” she smiled and opened the door letting me walk through.

“Thank you,” I said as I passed her. I watched her walk down the hallway before I turned to face the class, which wasn’t the best idea since all the students started to stare at me.

“Hello?” a very young teacher said, it almost sounded like a question. 

“Uh hi, my name is Nathan Harris, I am transferring from Midwood High School,” I said ignoring the other students staring at me as I looked towards the teacher, handing him my papers.

“Oh of course, Nathan Harris. I am Mr. Hemmings your English teacher,” he said sticking a hand out so we could shake hands. I grabbed it and shook it firmly, “We’re reading Shakespeare right now, so I hope you can catch up,” he added as he handed me a copy of Romeo and Juliet. I accepted it and looked around the class.

“Where can I sit?” I asked glancing back at him.

“Over there please,” he says pointing to a seat next to a girl, wait I knew who that was, it was Tessa. I walked over to her and put my books down, she glanced up at me and looked at me with a confused expression and then exchanged it with an angry one. I gave her a weird look and she looked away.

“Hey Tessa,” I said trying to start a conversation.

“Why are you here?” she asked rudely, not even bothering with formalities. 

“Um,” I was thrown off by her tone, “this is my English class.”

“Oh, well I thought you were stalking me,” she said confidently as she looked down at her desk. I couldn't tell if she was joking or being serious, at this point, so I went along with it. 

“Why would you think that?” I asked curiously.

“If you haven’t noticed I am a loner here,” she said gesturing to the class, who were all talking to their friends, I noticed something sad, no one was talking to her.  
“Well that occurred to me, but everyone wants friends,” I said giving her a smile, which she didn't even attempt to return. I looked at her and realized that without her hood pulled up she was still as beautiful as she was in the picture. Her hair was a dark brown with natural red highlights and it was tied into a loose ponytail, her face looked frail but she was still gorgeous. Her blue-gray eyes had a sparkle of green in them, and her hoodie sleeves were pulled over her hands.

“Why are you staring at me?” she asked stunned. I studied her face before I answered.

“Um I-I wasn’t staring at you I was staring at your… book bag,” I said instantly feeling stupid. That was the second lie I’ve told today, and judging by the reaction of the first one, Tessa was going to see right through my lie. 

“Why?” she asked annoyance clearly etching its way into her voice. So if she knew that I was lying she wasn’t letting it show. 

“Because, in New York we don't have those cool book bags,” I said trying to cover up my lie. I felt even more stupid when those word came out of my mouth. I reach up and scratched the back of my neck nervously.

“Okay then,” she said skeptical, but I swear before she turned away I saw her smile just a little bit. I quickly sat in the seat next to her and paid close attention to the teacher.

“Okay class, welcome to another day in my classroom, I hope you all don’t stick your gum underneath the desks like Mister Morrison,” Mr. Hemmings said shooting a pointed glare at the student who resembled one of the boys in the photo. He looked surprised that he had been caught, and to be honest I was just as surprised. It was like Mr. Hemmings had 20, 20, 20, 20 vision. ‘Mr. Morrison’ reached under the desk and unstuck the gum that he had placed almost moments before, and he quickly got up and threw it away. Some of the girls giggled when he went to sit back down and I don't blame them, his face was pulled into a scowl and it was quite funny.

“What are you looking at?” he said with a strong southern accent. Wow, I guess this is the only school in Ohio that accepts transfer students, I thought, chuckling to myself. I looked at the boy and saw that he had multiple tattoos, and his ears pierced. His black hair was shaggy looking and he had facial scruff that I guess was a bit attractive. He sat back into his seat and the boy sitting next to him laughed, making ‘Mr. Morrison’ scowl at him in return.

“Shut up Leonardo,” Mr. Morrison said giving the boy a glare.

“Oi, don’t call me Leonardo, Zack,” Leonardo snapped back. Zack laughed and turned to face the teacher who was in the front of the room.

“Let’s get back to the lesson shall we?” Mr. Hemmings asked as Zack and Leonardo were finishing their conversation. As Mr. Hemmings started to talk about Shakespeare, I turned towards Tessa again, and opened my mouth to ask her a question, but she was looking down at her English book following along with what Mr. Hemmings was reading. I sighed, noticing my efforts had been ignored and slowly opened my book as well.


	3. Failing. Tessa's POV

I looked down at my book and followed along with Mr. Hemmings as he read a passage written by one of the many authors that adored Shakespeare. I was confused as to why Nathan was trying to befriend me when I tried my hardest to be invisible. I didn’t need someone else in my life that could leave me once I had started to trust them. Nathan seemed like a cool and nice guy but he reminded me of Emily, a ball of energy that wants to be liked by everyone. I glanced at Nathan and saw he was writing down notes on Shakespeare, I rolled my eyes. 'What a nerd' I thought to myself, 'what a cute nerd.' Then I mentally smacked myself.

The lesson on Shakespeare lasted about an hour before we get our weekly assignment, this week we have to write a essay on our favorite Shakespeare play. I mentally groaned and slammed my book shut, I shoved everything in my backpack and stood up to wait for the bell to ring. Once the bell rang, I went to speed out of the classroom but Mr. Hemmings stopped me. ‘Damn it,’ I thought, ‘just what I needed.’ 

“Tessa,” Mr. Hemmings said motioning me to stand by his desk. He waited until everyone had left and sat down at his desk to start grading papers.

“Yes, Mr. Hemmings?” I asked rocking on my feet anxiously. I just really wanted to get to my next class.

“You are are a very smart, able bodied girl,” Mr. Hemmings said as he marked a big red circle on the paper he was grading.

“Thanks, I think. Look, I need to get to class, so if we could get to the point, that would be nice. Do you need me to rewrite an essay from last week?” I asked, now twiddling my thumbs. I hope he didn’t take offence to me trying to rush him, I just couldn’t be late to science.

“Why are you failing, Tessa?” he asked abruptly. My mouth gwaked open and I stuttered. 

“I-I don’t know, sir,” I answered quietly. 

“I think you do. You rarely do you work, you hardly participate, and don’t even try on your tests. Why is that?” Mr. Hemmings asked, finally tearing his eyes away from the paper. 

“I don’t know. I guess I can’t focus,” I said staring down at my toes. I knew exactly why I was failing, I no longer cared about anything.

“Well, whatever it is, it needs to be fixed, that is why I am assigning you a tutor,” he added nonchalantly, going back to his grading. 

“What! You can’t give me a tutor,” I said raising my voice in surprise. I definitely could not get a tutor, no one likes me here. He was going to force me to socialize! 

“Mr. Hemmings, I’m sure we can sort something else out other than a tutor, right? I mean, I could just do my work from now on,” I pleaded.

“It’s too late for that Tessa, I will have your assigned tutor ready by this afternoon. Good day, Ms. Newson,” he said motioning to the door.

“But, sir-”

“I said good day,” he added sternly. 

“Fine,” I huffed as I stomped out of the classroom. When I entered the hallway I pulled my hood up trying not to be noticed. I hated this fucking school. It was living hell, but yet again my life is living hell. I walked to my locker and saw the signs. Emo, Freak, Slut, Cheat, they all said. I reached up and tore them down, fresh tears already running down my face. I ran to the nearest trash can to throw the signs away, I heard the laughter ringing in my ears, as I felt the fresh tears stinging my cheeks.


	4. Mean, But Not So Mean, Girls. Tessa's POV

I ran into the bathroom and into the nearest stall, I locked the door and slipped onto the floor. I started sobbing quietly. I tried to pull myself together quickly but it was no use, they had broken me. I lean against the stall door as I listened to my rapid breathing, I tried to imagine someone holding me and rocking me slowly as they whispered, “Shh, you’re fine. It’s okay, you’ll be fine.” The only person who had ever done that was my mom. She would rock me and let me wet her shirt with my tears. Sometimes we cried together, and sometimes I just needed her to hold me and tell me it was okay.

I cried harder at the thought of my mom, except they were angry tears. Why did you leave me?! Why did you have to go and take Emily with you?! You make me so angry! Why? These thoughts always crossed my mind when I started crying. To me I don't blame my mom or my sister or the drunk driver who took my family away from me, instead no matter how many people tell me that it isn’t, I truly believe that it was my fault.

I started to get up from the bathroom floor when the door opened. I reacted silently as I sat on the toilet seat and hugged my knees to my chest. Through the small crack I could see some of the popular girls, including Talia.

“Did you see her?! Oh my god, she was so pathetic,” a girl whose name was Mya Heliy.

“Yeah, tots pathetic!” her friend Alexia added. Alexia and Mya quickly turned to Talia for back-up.

“Um, yeah she was pathetic,” she said quietly. Mya and Alexia laughed loudly. I sat back and closed my eyes, who knew when they were going to leave. My mom would have said, “Face your demons head on.” although I never had the courage to do so, but I really had to get to science. I wasn’t going to study or do anything, I just don't want to stay in this stinky bathroom any longer. I opened my eyes and saw that the girls were applying their 10th layer of makeup. I groaned and cursed under my breath, thankfully not loud enough for Mya and Alexia to hear, but unfortunately Talia did. She turned to the stall I was in and saw me sitting on the toilet.

“Talia? You okay?” Mya asked without looking away from the mirror.

“Hm? Yeah fine, but we should get to class,” she said looking away from me.

“Aw, why? I’m already failing, you know that,” Alexia said pouting a little. I stifled a laugh.

“Well, this bathroom stinks,” Talia said glancing back at me. I held my breath and hoped that Mya and Alexia would take the bait and leave the bathroom.

“Ugh, fine let’s go,” Mya groaned. I watched as the three of them left the bathroom. I exhaled the breath I had held for what felt like a lifetime and hesitantly unlocked to bathroom door. I looked around for any signs that they were still here, finding none I let out a sigh of relief. I turned on one of the sinks and washed my face so my red and swollen eyes would lose the swelling. I looked at the clock and realized I had two minutes until class. I looked at the mirror and observed my face. My cheeks and eyes were red and my hair was wispy and a mess. I took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door.


	5. Are You Okay? Nathan's POV

I heard giggling as I walked down the hallways to my next class. I was running late and I just couldn’t be late to class on my first day. I looked around the hallways and saw a girl walking briskly to her next class, it was Tessa. From where I was standing I could tell she had been crying, her hood was pulled up and her sleeves were pulled over her hands. Curiosity took over me and I caught up to her.

“Tessa! Wait up!” I yelled after her. I caught up to her and grabbed her wrist. She turned around and looked at me with teary eyes, “Let go of me,” she could barely whisper. Instead I tightened my grip just a little and she winced, I quickly let go.

“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” I asked worriedly. If I had hurt her, I would feel terrible.

“No, I’m fine,” she said unconvincingly.

“What’s wrong?” I asked observing her face, seeing that she was in obvious pain.

“Um, nothing I just hit my arm on the, um bathroom sink,” she said adding a noticeable fake smile.

“Oh, sorry. Can I take a look? My mom’s a nurse,” I said looking at her with a worried expression.

“No, I’m fine,” she said pulling her arm away from my reach.

“I have to get to class,” she quickly added as she started to walk away. I wanted to catch up to her but I heard my name called from across the hallway. I turned to see Mr. Hemmings walking down the hall to meet me.

“Mr. Hemmings, do you need to see me?” I asked curiosity etching its way out of my voice.

“Yes, I do,” he said, “come with me.” Mr. Hemmings started to walk quickly back to his classroom, I had to run to catch up.

“Mr. Hemmings, what do you need to ask me?” I half yelled after him.

He stopped and turned around so fast that I almost ran into him, looking at me he said, “I was looking at your grades from Midwood High, and I was deeply surprised. You are an English prodigy.” I looked at him begging him to shut up about me being smart. I didn't want everyone to know that I’m good at English, I just wanted to be cool and not considered a nerd, I wanted to start fresh.

“Yes, I am good at English. Why does that matter?” I asked looking at him.

“Because I want you to tutor someone,” he said looking at me for my reaction. My reaction was obviously shocked since this was my first day, nevertheless I nodded silently. 

“Who do you want me to tutor?” I asked. The name Mr. Hemmings said froze me instantly.

“Tessa Newson.”


End file.
